February 28, 2011

Guest Post: Rebecca Ann from Singing in His Name

Today we have a really great post featuring blogger and entrepreneur, Rebecca Ann.  Rebecca continues to inspire many people with her interesting and spiritually uplifting posts. 








Please tell us a little about yourself.

I am an almost 20 year old gal who loves life. I am a homeschool graduate of 2010. My parents decided to homeschool me when I reached 6th grade and I am ever grateful to them and the Lord for those great years of learning.  I strive to live a life of productivity and try to stay clear of things that are techy besides my laptop. I love all things old fashioned, vintage, and antique. I also am a strong believer in the Lord God of the universe who sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for my sins. He is the inspiration behind my Etsy store and I would never have gotten started sewing if it were not for His strength and encouragement from His Word and other believers around me. Without my faith in the Lord it would have never been possible to open the store.

What inspired you to open an Etsy shop?



I would say a number of things inspired me to open my store. First of all when I first heard of Etsy I was intrigued by all the homemade items! I said someday I would check off my bucket list that I was able to hand craft items for a store. I can't believe many years later I am actually opened and am enjoying sewing for my store. I used to hate to sew, but when my sister taught herself dress making and quilting I was very interested. So she inspired me as well to learn to sew and finally open my store. My mother also inspired me as she loves to make many types of crafts that are no sew and she was an encouragement as well telling me I should sell all those hand sewn items I made as gifts for my friends.

Where do you get the inspiration for things in your shop?

I would say blogs and books and my sisters sewing. With the internet there are so many blogs and places to find inspiration to sew coasters, banners, napkins, and other goodies. But especially the blog called Sew MaMa Sew inspired me to do a vintage theme for my shop. I love all things red, blue and vintage. So I got lots of inspiration from that blog as well as my sister’s love for red and blue in our craft/sewing room decor. So the theme of our sewing room is the same as my store, red and blue and vintage.



Other than sewing, what are some of your other hobbies?
Besides sewing, crocheting, and knitting, I love to do living history reenactments and sew clothing for myself and my family to wear to events. I also love sewing modern clothing and quilts as well as home decor cushions and curtains for our home. My first love before I learned to sew was music and I still love music! I am studying to be a voice major for college and enjoy singing and playing the piano at home and with friends. I also play the piano for the services at my church and enjoy doing so. I also enjoy cooking and baking with my sister and mother as well in our tiny kitchen. I also love visiting historic sites, homes, and museums in our area. We live on the east coast and there is so much history here. My family reenacts the Colonial Period (French and Indian war, as well as the Revolutionary War), the Civil War, and the War of 1812. So we get lots of inspiration from visiting historic sites and places. The other day we visited Mount Vernon and it was so inspiring! I also love thrifting and going shopping for bargains at the Goodwill or out of the way thrift stores. My mother and I love doing this together and we find a lot of antiques and vintage items for cheap.


Do you have any advice to anyone attempting to start their own crafting business?

My advice for others wanting to start a home business for crafting would be to try and share your crafts/sewing with your friends and family first. I have gotten a lot of interest from people from my church, family, and neighbors and friends in my area. So start small and maybe even don't do an Etsy store. Sell things to your friends and family or first give the crafts as gifts to people. My friends always receive handmade gifts, so they already see that I sew and do crafts and may want to buy something from me.



 I would also say “don't do it alone,” as you get inspiration or want to start sewing or crafting your items, ask for advice or opinions on the design or style of the items from friends and family. I was saved a lot of times by my sister when something just was not right or did not really cut it for the store.

 Also read a lot of blogs and view other Etsy stores or online stores to see how they do their business. You can get a lot of great ideas and advice from other Etsy or other store owners. Also if you want to start an Etsy store, add a lot of shops to your favorites list and items to your favorites. Then those sellers will add you to their favorites perhaps and buy something from you. I am also going to advertise in my local home school newsletter. So many people love that I am an entrepreneur and want to support me by buying my handmade products instead of made in china stuff.

Also do whip of some business cards or just some cards with your Etsy or business name on them. Then when you tell someone about it they don't have to remember the name in their head, they can see the address of the shop on the card. I am in the process of doing this right now.

All in all I am so grateful to Stephanie Ann for letting me do this guest post. I am very encouraged by her blog and her help by letting me share my Etsy store with you all. If you have any questions do come over to my blog here- http://singinginhisname.blogspot.com/ and leave a comment.

Thanks Rebecca! Please do visit her blog and Etsy Shop.

5 comments:

  1. Is that her sewing room? It looks so professional!

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  2. Really cool! I'll visit her Etsy shop. I was thinking of starting my own Etsy for my scrapbooking.

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  3. I'm going to check out her Etsy too. I love that poster you have on the wall in your sewing room. its cute.

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  4. I've always wanted to open an etsy shop. I make jewelry but there always seems like so many people who sell jewelry on there.

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  5. hey ladies! thank you so much for all the encouragement! do come over to etsy store here-http://www.etsy.com/shop/SingNSew?ga_search_query=singNSew&ga_search_type=seller_usernames

    You can also find it on my blog side bar.

    Yes that is our sewing/craft room! My sister, mother, and I love sewing in there.

    The posters are from England! My sister picked them up and said these should not be gift wrapping paper, they should go on the wall! So we took them home and put them up.

    God bless!
    Rebecca

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